Dishing The Details

Posted on Sun Nov 22nd, 2015 @ 12:40am by Admiral Lucius Hawke & Admiral Ricky Wegener

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Bajor 2360

Bajoran Resistance Camp Mess Tent - 2360 *

Lucius sat at a table in the empty mess tent, a small portable terminal before him. He punched at the control panel a little harder than he intended to, then snapped it closed with a grumble.

“This day just gets better and better.”

“Easy, tiger,” Rick said as he entered. “What’s happened now?”

“I was calling home to check on everyone since I’ve not been able to get away in two months. Marianna is being….Marianna.” Lucius shrugged. “Not what I need today, and I know that sounds bad.”

“And Marianna is…?”

“My wife on Betazed. It’s complicated. She and I were arranged when we were born you see. We married five years ago, just before my last year at the Academy.” He fell silent, waiting for the inevitable questions regarding Tora and Julisa.

Rick shrugged. “No judgment from me, pal.” He took a seat beside the young j.g. and tried to relax, since the seats were much more comfortable than that damned log outside. “So, planning time. What do we know about where Julisa is being held?”

“We are assuming she will be taken to Gallitep since she is Bajoran, well part Bajoran, but she appears to be full-blooded. Since she’s in a Starfleet uniform, I’m betting that she’ll be carried in to Darhe’el like some sort of prize. There would be quite a reward to the soldiers for someone like her,” Lucius answered.

“Is there any chance that they may harm her before we can launch a rescue?” Rick asked. “I know we need to wait until nightfall, but I’m a bit uncomfortable with leaving her swinging in the breeze until then.”

Lucius shook his head, his expression grave. “It would be a suicide run on our part. I’ve seen in Six’s mind, what she is capable of. Unless you want to send her in alone, we’ll have to wait.”

Rick also shook his head. “I wouldn’t take that chance with anyone, especially someone from the future. Hell, who knows what kind of mayhem that would cause for our futures?” He looked around the tent a few moments then back to Lucius. “What about their ship? What are the chances of getting it up and running, even at half power, to help with the rescue? If nothing else, it could be used as a very good diversion.”

“That’s an interesting question actually,” Lucius answered. “From what I read, Six has apparently...injected it so that it’s sort of repairing itself. She needs to get to that ship before we go tonight too. She needs power, and I can’t believe I just said all that with a straight face. Who are these Borg, Captain?”

Rick’s face turned dark and sullen. “If you didn’t get that information from when you read Six, I’m not the one to tell you. It seems it will come in due time. But, from what I know of them, she is capable of helping the ship repair itself, which does sound odd, but it’s true. So once she’s finished checking up on her friend, we should send her back out there with some backup, just in case the Cardies come calling again.”

“What I saw when I read her nearly blew my mind.” Lucius rubbed his eyes before continuing. “She was taken from the colony at only a few months of age. She spent four years in some sort of chamber and emerged fully grown and full of more technology than my shuttle out there has. She’s ...taken..assimilated....is that the right word? hundreds of people and turned them into those...things. And yet now? She’s a young woman working for Fleet intel who only wants to get home. What the hell?”

“Assimilation is what they call it,” Rick corrected, “but yes. That’s what they do. If you’re not Borg, they take you and your tech and assimilate it into their own...group, I guess? Culture? I don’t know. But by conquering almost every race they touch, they incorporate that new technology and knowledge and just keep steamrolling to the next batch of people to take them over.” He stopped himself. “Okay, enough about a potential future enemy. You know we can’t discuss it more than we already have.”

“Yeah. I’ll take her out to the ship myself, it will be safest and keep her exposure contained here as much as possible. I think that’s the wisest move. Unless you’d like to do the honors?”

“Knock yourself out. This is your gig, I’m just support staff at this point, rank be damned. I have my own op working, but I don’t mind helping you out here, especially when it comes to family.”

“Maybe you should then. You know more about what she is, things you and I can’t discuss. I need to be here, going over the plan with the team and working with the two men.” Lucius ran a finger over the terminal. “I also need to still some turbulent waters.”

Rick grunted, wondering how he would work that out. “Where’s the supply tent? I’ll need to grab a few weapons for Six and I, along with a few other things.”

“I’ll have some weapons brought to you and that should be all you need. The ship came down only about five minutes’ walk from here, in the woods. I think if it’s just the two of you, you’ll go unnoticed. The Cardassians sealed up the door so I doubt they are guarding it. She should have no trouble getting in.” Lucius finally smiled. “I suggest you have some breakfast first.”

Rick tsked at Lucius. “First rule of Intel work, always be prepared for anything. Weapons are good, but it never hurts to have a few other things on hand. But, yes, I’ll need some breakfast quick-like. I’ll find Six, first, and make sure she eats as well, assuming she needs to eat as much as we do.” He stood. “So, supply tent?” he asked, determined to choose his own gear.

“Go out of here, take a left and it’s twenty meters ahead, down in the hollow,” Lucius answered. “Good luck.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. And, uh, good luck to you,” Rick said, glancing at the terminal before exiting the tent.

“I’m going to need it,” Lucius murmured.

Once he was alone, he opened the channel once more. It took several seconds to encrypt and route through subspace, but it was necessary since the Cardassians were always scanning for transmissions as a means of locating resistance cells. Finally, Marianna’s face appeared on the screen and she was not smiling.

“My, my, Lucius. Twice in one day. That’s more than the last two months put together.” Her tone was dry. “Feeling guilty?”

Lucius rubbed his tired eyes once more and decided he must be a glutton for punishment. He had not had enough sleep for this.

“I am calling back because you cut our last conversation short, then Captain Wegener arrived on business,” he replied, keeping his tone pleasant with some effort.

“Rick Wegener?” Marianna pursed her lips with distaste. “I blame him for our current situation you
know. You have a wife here and three very young children. He could have requested anyone for this assignment and sent you here to Betazoid instead. Wegener’s only partly to blame, however. There’s also the fact that you can’t keep it in your pants. You have been there for four years, Lucius! Suddenly you tell me that you have a three year-old child with a woman who is, for all intents and purposes, your wife there. I can do the math, my dear. What it adds up to is that you jumped ship almost the minute you set foot on Bajor, while making the occasional trip home to have your fun with me as well. Does she know we had the twins a year after her little urchin was born?”

“That’s enough!” Lucius, who was normally extremely calm no matter what was swirling around him, finally lost his temper. He took a deep breath and lowered his voice. “You will not refer to Julisa as an urchin. Is that clear?” His voice held the ring of a command and even Marianna was quieted in the face of it.

She nodded slowly. “Very well. I suppose she cannot be held accountable for your excessive appetites. I almost pity her, having to grow up in a camp in the hills like a savage.” Marianna’s dark eyes snapped as she looked back at Lucius. “What of the woman? What do you intend to do about her?”

That was the real question, wasn’t it? Lucius adored his children, all of them, but Marianna was not the one he loved and they both knew it - had known it since they were teenagers. They got along fine for the most part but it wasn’t a deep, romantic, heart-stopping love. That was reserved for Tora and he didn’t need to tell Marianna that. She’d read it so easily, even over this long distance. He knew there was someone she loved as well, but she had never brought it up. The man was on staff at Starfleet Command and Lucius knew him well. They had lived next door to each other during their Academy years. Tomas was one of his closest friends. Finally Lucius sighed.

“What do you want me to say? You and I are in a marriage arranged for all the right political connections. It’s a union that we can’t so easily discard for a whole host of reasons.”

Marianna nodded and when she spoke now, her voice was soft, affectionate even. “You’re right. Despite my ranting at you, I understand how...things happen. I suppose my ire comes from the fact that this has gone on for four years now and you didn’t tell me sooner. There’s also the worry that it will get out and be a huge embarrassment for both of us.”

Embarrassment was the least of Lucius’ concerns. “I could say the same to you. I know...about Tomas.” Lucius shrugged lightly. “My only suggestion is we make the best of it till the kids are older, then it won’t matter so much if we part ways.” He knew they were stuck in a no-win situation and there was nothing he could do about it for the foreseeable future. Tora rose in his mind and he wanted to end the call, rush to her side and tell her how sorry he was for the whole mess, but he’d done that already, several times.

“I suppose so. I suppose, also, that I should let you get back to ….to her.” Marianna frowned, obviously having trouble getting the words out.

Lucius shook his head. “That’s the other reason I originally called. Something has come up here and it’s serious.” He explained about the group arriving from 2388 and while he admitted that Julisa was one of them, he skipped over the Borg details. “The Cardassians have Julisa and we have to go into Gallitep to get her back. It’s going to be dangerous, obviously, but we have to do this. I will call you the minute I am back safe. I promise.”

Marianna’s mouth had fallen open. She and Lucius might have their problems, but she did care about him and news that it was his other child, all grown up, in the hands of the Cardassians, was horrific. “Oh Lucius, I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can do….you know I will.”

Lucius managed a smile. “I know. I have to go. We’ll talk soon.”

He closed the channel and rested his head in his hands. Suddenly, the direness of the situation, and the possibility that he or one of the others might not return, settled on him and he wanted to scream. It took a few minutes to regain his composure but once he had, he rose. He had to get Tora. They still had the day ahead of them and he needed to spend it with her.

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Lt. (jg) Lucius Hawke
The Thorn Between Two Roses

Captain Rick Wegener
Caught In The Time Warp Now

Marianna Hawke
The Whirlwind